Forget Me Not
by crestfallenantithesis
Summary: A Karkat Kanaya sadstuck with guests Dave and Rose, in an AU where they grow old together. In the events that build up to Kanaya's memory loss, Karkat must learn how to cope with these new changes. Rated T for some profanity.
1. The Funeral

Now was not the time to be thinking about fucking irony. Yes, the pouring rain was, of all things, ironic. However, this was the last occasion that you should be thinking about irony.

"Mr. Strider, is this okay?"

"Mr. Strider?"

"Dave…"

Dave looked up to see Aradia staring at him and waiting for an answer. "Uhh, yeah, that's fine." He wasn't really even looking at what had changed; his mind was on other things. Like his sister's cold, dead body only feet away from where he stood. The worst part of it all was that he had to coordinate the whole funeral, with Aradia's occasional help and input. These were more of her specialty, anyways. The room was mostly empty for the majority of the day; people drifted in and out to pay their respects to her and give Dave the occasional pitying glance. The kind of glance that no one really wants to see cast towards them—the glance that says "I'm sorry" but also "you poor thing".

As far as the room went, plain white walls boxed them in and Rose's casket stood in the front center of the room. Lavender hydrangeas and baby's breath were in vases placed around the room's interior. Aradia had taken to "preparing" Rose for the funeral. Her jawbones were accentuated on her pale, thin face. A dark purple dress lay limply on her body, lumps of fabric gathering around the casket edges. In her arms were some more lavender hydrangeas and baby's breath and next to her casket was the first copy of her tome that was printed. As people filtered in and out; Dave really only hoped to see two people visit. One was a necessity for the other at this point but he didn't really care. Rose was close to both of them even until death. The chances of them showing up were unlikely though for certain reasons. Dave let out his fifth sigh of the day and readjusted the shades on his face. They were the only thing keeping strangers from seeing his emotionally exhausted face exposed.

After another hour and no show of the two people Dave was really hoping for, the procession was moved outside where the hole was ready to encompass his sister's lifeless body. The crane lowered the casket ten feet below. Water sloshed around in the bottom as it continued heavily storming. Dave's shades were soaked and virtually impossible to see from but he didn't care. It wouldn't have even mattered anyways if he took them off. He still wouldn't have been able to see a thing. Dirt piled on top of the casket, an audible _thunk_ against the depths of her grave only made it worse for Dave. When it was over, he walked over to where the grave was and crouched just above the ground. The only thing on his mind was that she was actually gone. Nothing could bring her back, not magic, not anything.

"Did you consider a tombstone to put in her remembrance; maybe something she would want to be remembered as?" Aradia asked, walking over towards where Dave crouched.

"Another day, Aradia." Dave couldn't take much more. He stood up. Thunder resounded in the distance and instead of going back inside to get his umbrella he strode off towards his car, reaching for car keys in his pocket. It was time to inform the two people that couldn't make it to the funeral procession of the earlier events. This was enough for one day, maybe even too much. In that instant, as he got into his car, he wished he could have done much than stick his sister in a casket ten feet underground. She deserved so much more than this.


	2. Her Name Was Rose

"Kanaya, that's not how it works." He paused to see if she would listen but she didn't turn around. Sighing heavily, he got up from his seat and walked over to Kanaya. "We're going to have a guest soon, why don't you sit by me and look at something else? We can figure out your sewing machine later." His voice was deep and gravely, typical Karkat but much softer and gentler toward his dear friend.

Kanaya, led by Karkat, stumbled in the direction of the only couch in their humble apartment. As she sat down, she spotted a scrapbook sprawled open across the coffee table. It was practically second nature for Karkat to reach out and help Kanaya with what she couldn't access but he realized a bit too late that this was not the scrapbook to be looking through… at least not today. She flipped through the pages ambiguously and Karkat watched as her expressions varied slightly from photo to photo. She reached out to Karkat, most likely to who a certain person was. However, her question would not be answered until later because just moments before, the doorbell rang and Karkat got up to answer it.

"Just a minute Kanaya, I need to speak with an old friend of mine" He excused himself as she nodded understandingly and went back to inspecting photos.

Standing in the doorway was none other than Mr. Dave Strider.

An awkward silence fell between the two before Karkat asked, "How was it?"

Dave readjusted his shades and looked at Karkat in the eyes. "Fucking awful."

All Karkat could do was look down and nod half-heartedly. "Yeah…"

Another silence fell between them. A couple minutes later Dave nodded in Kanaya's direction. "Does she know?"

"Kind of," Karkat had told her before. That Rose was gone, dead even, and wouldn't be visiting. Kanaya nodded and whimpered and said that it was so _so_ sad for someone to die, but she didn't get it. Ever since this goddamned disease, she seemed to understand less about the people that cared the most for her. Dave only nodded. He expected that much.

"How is she doing? Is she getting by okay?" 

"Ha. She's needed a lot more help lately. Sometimes she needs help picking out her clothes for the day or threading her sewing machine. I could have sworn that was second nature to her." He tries to speak in an upbeat tone but it falls flat.

All Dave can do is nod again. "If you need help, don't hesitate to call." 

Karkat looks up and smiles blearily, "Thanks."

After their small conversation, he returns to Kanaya. "Hey you had a question didn't you? Let's hear it."

She pushes forward the book and points to a certain figure. "She's absolutely stunning and I recognize her and I must be close to her because we have many pictures taken together but I can't seem to recall her name…" 

Karkat smiles wistfully as he says, "Rose. Her name was Rose."


End file.
